EFCA European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations

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EFCAEuropean Federation of Engineering
Consultancy Associations

• BIMILACI 2005
• Jan Van der Putten
• EFCA Secretary General
• The World Bank, Washington D.C.
• Room I 1-200 (I Building), 1850 I Street, N.W.
• 7 April 2005

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EFCA on Quality Outcomes in the EU

• Former and present European Commission policies
• Elements of a quality debate

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Former and Present European Commission policies

• Reform of EC external assistance
  managementessential element deconcentration
• Commission 1999 2004 putting rules in place
  and horizontal approach
• Commission 2004 2009 focus on output and
  quality

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Elements of a quality debate

• Dissemination of information to tenderers
• Evaluation criteria too much CV-based
• Adequate project budgets
• Same rules for all?
• Validity of references
• Definition of conflict of interest

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Dissemination of information to tenderers (1)

• Problem description
• EC prohibits contacts between tenderers and
  contracting authorities and Delegations.
• Consequently
• Consultants locally present are favoured
• Quality of proposals decline

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Dissemination of information to tenderers (2)

• EFCA recommendation
• (Optional) Site visits and clarification meetings
  (should be the rule for short-listed firms)
• All documents available should be at the disposal
  at such clarification meetings
• Minutes of clarification meetings should be sent
  to all tenderers

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Evaluation criteria too much CV-based (1)

• Problem description
• EC requires a minimum of 5 years experience
• Consequently
• Unbalanced age and experience structure in
  consulting firms
• In the long run shortage of knowledge and skills

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Evaluation criteria too much CV-based (2)

• EFCA recommendation
• Additional budgets for young professionals to
  cover costs on specific projects

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Adequate project budgets (1)

• Problem description
• Project budgets are sometimes too tight
• Consequently
• Firms cannot commit a majority of permanent
  staff, including junior staff
• Therefore, company development and experience is
  hampered

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Adequate project budgets (2)

• EFCA recommendation
• Project budgets should be drawn up to allow
  deployment of a majority of permanent staff

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Same rules for all? (1)

• Problem description
• Following deconcentration, differences in
  interpretation of rules by Delegations
• Consequently
• 120 interpretation centres instead of
  implementation centres
• Documents in various languages are not identical
• At their discretion Delegations add specific
  administrative requirements to tender/award
  process

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Same rules for all? (2)

• EFCA recommendations
• Establishment of clear and simple rules and
  guidelines
• Establishment of a central help desk in Brussels
• Improve training in Delegation

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Validity of references (1)

• Problem description
• In most cases selection criteria specify that
  firms must have references in the last 3 years
• Consequently
• Many SMEs are excluded from tendering
• Therefore, the potential of capable/qualified
  companies is limited

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Validity of references (2)

• EFCA recommendation
• Validity of references should be extended to 5
  years for engineering consultancy firms

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Definition of conflict of interest (1)

• Problem description
• Firms excluded from subsequent project phases
  based on involvement in earlier stages (except
  for ToR)
• Consequently
• Disruptive for project itself
• Multiple selection procedures are expensive and
  time-consuming for both contracting authority and
  consultants

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Definition of conflict of interest (2)

• EFCA recommendation
• Make all preliminary investigation documents
  available to all participants